


More or Less

by zetuslapetus



Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: Gen, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:40:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23922469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zetuslapetus/pseuds/zetuslapetus
Summary: The girls ask Beth to elaborate on 'more or less'.
Relationships: Beth Boland/Rio
Comments: 12
Kudos: 105





	More or Less

It’s a rare Sunday morning, the Boland house is empty save for Ruby, Annie and two bottles of champagne Beth picked up on sale. There’s a gallon of orange juice abandoned near the stove and a stack of French toast on the table.

“So - “ Annie clears her throat, glances at Ruby who gives her a quick head shake that she’s come to understand as _don’t do it, girl._

Annie doesn't’ listen, she slides the flute of orange juice away and leans an elbow on the table.

“How many times was it?”

Beth pauses, mid pour, and looks up. “What?” She shakes her head.

Ruby can’t tell if Beth’s playing dumb or really isn’t following her sister's train of thought. Her poker face was always unmatched.

“How many times did you _actually_ screw gang-friend?” Annie says, slowly, enunciating each word.

“Ugh - don’t say screw,” Beth scowls and finishes her pour.

“Oh yeah, cause my use of _screw_ is the issue here, “ Annie snaps, “How about bang, hump, fu-“ she’s mid counting synonyms off on her hand when Beth interrupts her.

“I get it, Annie,” Beth exhales and takes a sip from her flute. She tilts it back and swallows the whole drink, catching a stray drop with the back of her hand.

Ruby’s blinks at her, and pushes the bottle of champagne in her direction. “Forget the juice.”

“Just twice,” Beth answers, grabs the bottle by the neck, and tips it into the plastic flute.

“Where?” Annie asks.

“Here.”

Ruby takes a sip from her flute and settles back.

Annie jumps a little, lifts her elbows from the table, and makes a face of disgust.

“Here, like - “ Annie pauses and waves her palms over the kitchen table.

Ruby chortles.

“No, Annie, jeez. Here, at the house,” Beth says, then quietly, she adds. “In the bedroom.”

Annie gasps, dramatically, and her hand flies to her chest as if she’s scandalized by her sister's response.

“You _slut_.”

Ruby lets out a laugh and Beth scowls at both of them.

“When?” Ruby asks.

Beth takes a moment to answer, squinting as if she has to think about it.

“Right before Dean brought the kids back.”

Ruby exclaims and Annie lets out a groan.

“I told you - “ Ruby says, then points at Annie “You owe me.”

Beth shakes her head, looks at Ruby then back to Annie.

Annie leans to the side and pulls her wallet out of her pocket. She pulls the velcro open and Ruby cringes.

“Is that a velcro wallet?” Ruby whispers.

Annie gives her a pointed look and pulls out a few paper bills. She folds them, slaps them on the table, and slides them toward Ruby.

“Excuse me?” Beth shakes her head.

“I knew the baby timeline made _noo_ sense,” Ruby says, picks up the money off the table, and counts the bills. “Especially since that fool believed it was his,” she clarifies.

“You’re betting on my - “ Beth pauses, hesitant to acknowledge they’re actually talking about her sex life.

Ruby gives her a look as if she knows exactly what’s going through her best friend's head.

“Yes, we are, because I can’t believe you didn’t tell us.” Annie scoffs and takes another sip of her drink.

Its quiet for a moment, Ruby has a smile on her face that she can’t hide very well, not that she’s trying to. There’s silliness in the air that they haven’t felt for a long time. A warm feeling of girls sharing secrets, something they’ve lost in this new life.

“Spit it out,” Beth says.

“ _How_ was it?”

Beth can feel her cheeks redden, a heat blooming in her chest at the memory.

“I mean, he came back for it,” Annie chuckles and gives her sister a wink.

Beth shakes her head once then looks down at the table. She brushes an imaginary crumb from her lap before she speaks.

“He didn’t, I did.”

“Girl,” Ruby whispers.

Rolling her shoulders back, Beth looks up.

“I met him at the bar to drop off his cut, we had a drink, and I told him I forgot the money at home.”

Annie chortles. “Smooth.”

“We came back here and I led him to the bedroom - where the money was.” She pauses. “Well, actually, the money was in my purse the whole time.”

Annie frowns. “You’re like _so_ bad at this.”

“I don’t have a lot of experience picking men up, Annie.” Beth snaps.

“Then what?” Ruby prompts and takes a big gulp of her mimosa.

“Then I kissed him, and he kissed me, and yeah - “ she arches her brows.

Beth pauses for a moment, lets out a laugh when she remembers a detail, and then speaks again.

“I was wearing my riding boots so I took them off before I - you know - and my socks didn’t match,” she says with a giggle.

“Oh - my - god,” Annie says, slowly, as if a thought just dawned on her. “You are _so_ bad this, and he still - multiple times!“ she pauses, waves her hand at Beth's face. When Beth doesn’t react, she looks at Ruby, then back at Beth. Exasperated that neither of them is following her train of thought, she yells out.

“He _likes_ you.”

Beth laughs, loudly.

Annie doesn’t.

Ruby makes a face.

“If it’s just sex he wanted, he could get it anywhere. I mean, have you seen him?” She and Ruby exchange a glance. “There’s literally no way that a man who looks like that is hurting for it.”

“He doesn’t _like_ me, we’re not - ”

“I mean why else jeopardize a steady income,” Annie continues, interrupting Beth, turning her attention to Ruby. “All those body parts he mailed to get her back in,” she whispers.

Beth shakes her head, not happy with the direction the conversation’s taking. 

“The jilted lover isn’t Beth,” Ruby says to Annie, “It's him.”

Ruby and Annie look at each other for a beat, then they break out in a laugh.

“Okay, enough,” Beth stands up, picks up the flutes, ignoring Annie’s protest.

“I wasn’t done,” Annie whines and reaches out for her drink.

“You’ve had enough,” Beth says.

“We’re joking,” Ruby says.

“Or are we,” Annie whispers, low enough that Beth could still hear it from the sink.

Ruby leaves the table and joins Beth, who has picked up the French toast pan and begun violently scrubbing.

“It's over, right. I mean it’s not like you’d do it again.” She says, soothingly, as if she’s trying to reassure Beth.

If she notices the pause in Beth's movements or the slight hitch in her breathing she says nothing.


End file.
